Lil B X 9th Wonder X Jean Grae Drop ‘Based For Your Face’

The Lil B phenomenon has baffled the Internet for well over a year and the 2011 XXL Freshman has shown some flashes he has ability far beyond his ever popular #BASED freestyles that he is renowned – and reviled – for the world over.

Consider then a possibility that underground darlings 9th Wonder, Phonte (of Little Brother/Foreign Exchange fame) and Jean Grae would be working alongside the Berkeley rapper willingly, creating one of the oddest collaborations to date. After all parties involved hyped up the impending track via their Twitter accounts, the 9th Wonder-produced song “Based For Your Face” was released to the public to much fanfare and heavy amounts of criticism last night (March 9).

Pittsburgh spitter and fellow XXL Freshman Mac Miller said, “[T]his 9th, lil b, phonte, and jean grae is super hard,” via his Twitter account. “This Lil B and Jean Grae jawn aint half bad at all. His flow has improved one million percent from the one song I heard before,” tweeted @KarmaSerene. “The world has come to an end. Lil B has a song with Phonte & Jean Grae …produced by 9th Wonder..,” said a defeated @Crucial101.

Rap Radar commenters were mostly in support but the voices of dissent rang loudly. “And the award for the oddest collaboration of 2011 goes to… It’s dope though. B/c of 9th’s production, Phonte, & Jean Grae. Not Lil B,” said one commenter. “The 1st, and probably LAST, time I ever listen to f—-n Lil B, but the features caught my attention. It is hot tho, can’t hate or front,” added another listener.

Writer Noz added some commentary about the track via the site Cocaine Blunts, perhaps neatly summing up a lot of the joy and confusion about it all. “Musically the track is exactly what you would expect. Pretty good, if you like that sort of thing. The response is equally predictable. Some twitterers are tweeting mad at Phonte, Jean and 9th. Others are hitting their oh my god Lil B is actually good moment of clarity,” wrote Noz.

What can’t be determined via a few tweets and comments here and there is if this changes the public’s perception of Lil B after these heavy underground rap cosigns. What it does signify is that a shift in how music reaches the masses and what fans can expect has been altered once again, keeping the spotlight trained on the Based God as he moves into another stratosphere of popularity and disdain.